AUTHOR NOTE

Chapter three was a long chapter. Yes, I know. It was about three times longer than the other two. I was bored and felt like being descriptive. I thought the Marc/Lacey scene was sweet though. Here's chapter four.

Operation: Guns

Rated: T

Chapter 4: First chance

The next morning went like normal except there was an extra mouth to feed. Marc, Tony, and Lee sat at the dining room table spooning mouthfuls of cereal down their throats.

Sound came from the stairs and Megan skipped into the kitchen. She was wearing her usual outfit: A purple sweatshirt with a black shirt underneath and purple pants. Lacey came after her, wearing a baggy black 30 Seconds to Mars band-tour T-shirt, tight jeans and combat boots. She had her hair lose and straight around her shoulders with her bangs swept into her eye like it had been yesterday.

She looked around the kitchen and when she caught Marc's eye she smiled. He looked away, heat rising to his cheeks.

"G'morning late-night bathroom girl!" Tony said, scrunching his nose up. Marc elbowed him in the ribs and he muttered, "Ow…."

The brunette didn't appear to notice, and she just simply sat down at the table next to Lee who was quietly eating his cereal.

She yawned widely and poured herself some cereal. At that moment Karen came in dressed in her work attire- a blue business suit.

"G'morning kids!" She sang, grabbing an apple from the middle of the table, "Your father's already at work. We won't be home till five, but dinner's at six. DO NOT BE LATE."

"No prob, mom," Tony said with his mouse full.

Karen turned to Lacey, "What time will your parents be home?" She asked.

Lacey shrugged and glanced at the Clark siblings for help, "Well, I know they'll probably be home sometime in the next few days. They'll probably call me when they get home."

Karen, believing the lie said, "Oh! Well you're welcome to stay here until they get back!"

Lacey blushed, "Uh… thanks Mrs. Clark!"

Karen patted her on the head, "Don't mention it, kiddo!" And then she walked out the door.

The kids all looked at Lacey, who was staring down into her bowl of milk with a somber look on her face. When she looked up her eyes were wet, but she pushed the tears away. "You're parent's are really nice," she sobbed.

They all looked concerned, but knowing they would get nothing out of her, they just finished breakfast.

"Alright, guys," Megan started as they walked to school, "We're gonna take her to the office so she can get her schedule, and then we'll go from there. Sound cool?" The guys nodded.

They continued to talk among themselves, but Lacey fell a little behind, gripping the backpack that WOOHP had provided for her. She didn't join in any conversations.

Lee, who had been listening to Tony babble on about some smoothie flavor, noticed Lacey wasn't walking beside them. He glanced back and saw her looking down at her feet while she walked behind them. He slowed to let her catch up with him.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked quietly.

She looked up and she smiled, which made him blush.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous. When I don't have my gun with me, I feel kinda—vulnerable."

"You'll do fine," He told her, putting his arm around her shoulder. She squirmed a little and walked a bit faster to catch up with the group so he would lose his grip on her.

When they got to school, Megan and Lacey walked into the office. It was small, but efficient. The lights flickered above, illuminating the white walls and floors, and a couple of secretaries sat behind desks in each corner of the room. Megan walked up to the nearest one to the door and asked for Lacey's schedule. With a polite nod, and a smile she walked back to the new girl.

They walked outside to discuss her schedule with the guys.

1st Period- Science

2nd Period- Gym

3rd period- Math

4th period- Literature

5th period- Computers and programming

6th period- History

"I've got science first," Megan said, "And then Lee's got gym. I'll walk you over."

"I've got Math in 3rd too, so I can help you with that," Marc offered. Tony gave Marc another teasing smile and Marc scowled at him.

"You'll be fine," Lee encouraged again, and with that, the first bell rang.

Megan walked Lacey into Mr. Massey's class, and to her horror she was announced as the new student to the class. She sat down self-consciously next to Megan and waited anxiously for the bell to ring.

After first period, she went to P.E. with Lee. They were currently doing an archery unit and—Thanks to her experience with guns—Lacey quickly became a pro.

Afterwards she went to Math Class with Marc, and she showed to be smart there also. The rest of the day went by fast, but not fast enough.

As the last bell rang and the kids were walking out of school, a nasally voice said from behind them, "Combat boots? What are you, Napoleon Dynamite?"

Lacey froze and slowly turned around, a scary look on her face. "Excuse me?" She said coolly.

"You heard me!" Tammy scoffed, "Combat boots are so 1990s. It makes sense that you're hanging out with these losers."

Lacey's eyes narrowed in fury and she took a step forward, one fist coming back behind her head so as to strike. Lee and Tony saw it before it could go much farther, and one grabbed her fist and the other grabbed her shoulders and tugged her back. Lacey forced them off and took a step forward, gritting her teeth.

"Listen, what's-your-face," she growled, leaning in so she could put more menace in her voice, "If you mess with me, my friends, or my combat boots, I will make you wish you were never born, do you understand me?"

Tammy scoffed, "Sounds like you've got the talk, but not the walk!"

Lacey made a snarling sound in the back of her throat, and her hand shot instinctively to her back pocket, but remembering it was empty, she cussed under her breath. Instead she raised her hand up so she could point at Tammy. "You don't want to find out, wimp," She hissed, and with that, she whipped around and stalked out of the building.

The Clarks stared after Lacey, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, they followed her.

"Yeah, that's right! Run away because you're scared!" Tammy yelled after them.

"Don't even make eye-contact," Megan murmured to her brothers.

When they caught up to Lacey, they found her standing under the shade of a large oak tree. She was shaking in fury and clenching her fists. "Nobody makes fun of my combat boots! Nobody!" She was whispering.

"Hey," Marc said, putting his hand on her shoulder like he had last night. He blushed at the memory, "What's wrong? I know she made fun of your boots but uh… they're just boots. Right?"

Lacey closed her eyes and shook her head in a jerky motion. "They were my dads," she whispered tightly.

Marc had a sudden realization then, and he was about to say something, but suddenly a hole in the tree next to them opened up and sucked them in. They landed on the couch in Jerry's office.

"Hello, spies!" Jerry greeted them, smiling widely.

Lacey made herself perk up, so she looked as eager to do her mission as everyone else.

"What's the mission now, Jer?" Megan asked.

"There's a jailbreak at the Angola Prison," Jerry informed them, "I need you to find the prisoners and bring them back to their cells."

Lee nodded, "No problem!"

"Alright, spies. Today you'll be getting the stick-to-anything imprisonment gum. Just chew it and blow at your target, and boom! They're as good as stuck," he tossed the packet to Megan, "You will also be getting the paralyzing eye-glasses. Slip them onto an enemies head and they're immediately paralyzed for up to four hours," he tossed the glasses to Marc, "And last but not least you get the mirror-maker. It makes a clone of its' user to confuse the opponent," he tossed this to Lee.

The spies suited up in their red, blue, yellow, and pink spy suits. Lacey looked down at her normal clothes.

"So… what do I wear?" She asked.

Jerry smiled and opened a drawer in his desk. He dug around, holding up several different sizes and colors of suits until he found one. "This should fit you," he told her as he tossed her a green version of Megan's suit. Lacey put it on, and made a face at the little skirt thing hanging from her hips, but said nothing.

Jerry beckoned for Clark siblings, "Megan, Tony, Lee, and Marc, may I speak to you for a moment?"

The siblings shrugged and followed him over to the other side of the room where they could converse without Lacey hearing.

"WOOHP has finally uncovered who she is," Jerry reported. "Her parents' names were Todd and Helena Brooks."

"Were?" Tony observed.

"Yes. Were. I am afraid that both have passed on. Her mother died of childbirth, and her father died about three years ago. It is as she said. He was in the military."

"So she's an orphan?" Lee prompted.

"I am afraid so. She was reported missing two months ago from a city in New Hampshire. She's been transferred from foster parent to orphanage, to foster parent over and over again. She always runs away and is found again. She may dislike it, but WOOHP is placing her at our adoption facility in downtown. It will provide housing, and food, and all of the other things that she needs," Jerry finished.

"What about her brother, Jared?" Marc prompted.

"I cannot locate him. He is still living, but his location is undisclosed. She's the only one left in her family."

"Oh my God. That's so sad," Megan whispered.

Marc was nodding, taking this all in. "I figured it out when she got all defensive over those combat boots. If they were her dads, they must be really special to her."

They stood in silence for a few seconds, but finally Jerry spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear. "Alright spies, well, your mission awaits!"
"Uh… Jerry?" Lacey piped up from the couch.

"Yes, Lacey?"

"Do you think that maybe… just maybe? I could take my gun?" She smiled up at him pleadingly.

"Although they are criminals, the prison requests that we don't kill them," Jerry reminded her.

"But I really, really need it. My dad gave it to me for reasons," She pleaded, not knowing that they know knew all about her dad.

Jerry considered this, "Alright. But do not kill them unless it's absolutely necessary. They still have to pay their debts in prison. It's a legal matter."

"You have my word."

"Very well, spies, you must be on your way."
And with that, they were sucked up into the jet.

(Really sorry! It was kind of a boring chapter. There wasn't a ton of action. And you now only have the basic facts about her parents. I'll add details later on.)